Good News: The Gospel Can Still Advance

Most of us have probably heard the saying “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” That statement basically means try to make the best out of a bad situation. When I was playing basketball in college, my knees decided that they did not want to cooperate. I spent most of my college basketball years sitting on the bench recovering and rehabbing from surgeries. Not the best of situations because at the time, the only thing I wanted to do with my life was to play basketball. Well because I spent so much time watching my team play, I really started learning more about basketball than ever before. I was never really a student of the game. All I knew was run past everybody and put the ball in the little circle, and if you feel like it, play some defense. But during this time, I really started studying more about strategies and the fundamentals of the game. Well, during our games, I always tried to sit next to our coach, and since I was learning so much, I started offering suggestions. Well fast forward to my senior year. I’m about to graduate, and I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do next. The coach calls me in and asks me to stay be he assistant coach. The knee injuries were not ideal, but that bad situation turned into me learning more about the game and getting into something that I’ve learned to love even more than playing basketball - Coaching basketball.

And maybe you can think of a time in your life when you were able to make lemonade out of some lemons. You made the best out of a bad situation.

Well in our text this morning, Paul is going to let us know that he was in a bad situation, but he was making the best of circumstance that he was in.

Let’s read together Philippians 1:12

Philippians 1:12 ESV

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,

So Paul is writing to his friends and brothers and Christ, and letting them know that things that had happened to him all served to advance the gospel. So what is it that had happened to Paul since the last time he was with these believers? Well, Paul was preaching in the temple in Jerusalem, when this religious mob gathers and falsely accuses Paul. They started this huge riot that ends with Paul being captured and beaten. Well, this angry mob drew the attention of the Roman soldiers and without just cause Paul was arrested and placed in prison. He survived a plot to kill him, he spent two years in prison, he stood trial before councils, and governors, and eventually Caesar himself. On his way to Rome, the prisoner ship that Paul was on was shipwrecked, and now he is on house arrest awaiting another trial. So a lot has happened, and most of it was not good. As Paul is writing this he was most likely chained to a Roman soldier. But Paul says that all this - the false accusations, the beatings, the imprisonment, the trials, the shipwreck - all of this served to advance the gospel.

In the original Greek, the word used for advance was a term that was often used to refer to blazing a trail into new territory or working hard to progress in a certain area. So Paul was saying was letting the Philippians know that even though he was going through some difficulties, the gospel was still going forward into new places and reaching new people. Paul wanted the believers in Philippi to know that the gospel was unstoppable.

Satan will stop at nothing to keep the gospel from spreading to the world. From the very beginning, religious leaders tried to discredit the validity of Jesus’s resurrection by paying false witnesses to say the disciples had stolen his body.All throughout church history, there have been those who have attempted to squelch the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. Christians throughout the ages have endured countless obstacles designed to silence those whose lives had been changed through Jesus Christ. They’ve been sanctioned by their governments, imprisoned, tortured, and martyred. But the gospel has still advanced. Even through hardships like natural disasters, economic downturns, and pandemics, the gospel has still advanced. As a matter of fact, when the gospel meets obstacles it seems that the message spreads even further. It’s been over 2000 years since Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected, but this good news has not been extinguished, it has not faded away, it has not been forgotten. Still today it is reaching new places, being heard in new languages, and changing the lives of people around the world.

I know right now were are going through this covid-19 season. A time when we are supposed to be keeping our distance, and wearing masks, and limiting our interaction with others. It makes it awkward to approach a stranger with the gospel.

But even before that, there’s been a culture shift taking place in America. Once it was common to discuss religious topics with others, but more and more people prefer that you keep your faith and values to yourself . In addition, Christian values are increasingly being viewed as narrow-minded and old-fashioned and restrictive. Thus far we have enjoyed religious liberty in this country, but more and more the boundaries of those religious liberties are being tested. While, all around the Christians are being persecuted for their faith. They must meet in secret, smuggle Bibles into their country, and risk their lives just to follow Jesus and proclaim the gospel to others. As we grow closer to the time of the return of Christ, there will be obstacles, there will be hardships, their will be persecution. But I have good news. The gospel can still advance.

No government, no culture, no persecution, no pandemic, no earthly circumstance is going to be able to stop the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, the only thing that can stop the spread of the gospel is you. The gospel only stops when God’s people won’t proclaim God’s message.

Hey I know we get busy. I know sometimes it can be awkward. I know that it takes time to build relationships with people so that you have an audience and influence. Perhaps you fear questions that may be asked, or you know that your life isn’t quite up to a Christian standard so you should just stay silent. No matter the obstacle that you encounter, we can’t let the gospel stop with us just because we have to overcome some obstacles to proclaim the message.

Paul was in prison. Had gone through a lot. But the gospel was still going forward. In the next few verses, he tells us what the advancement of the gospel looks like.

The Advancement of the Gospel Christ was Proclaimed

Philippians 1:12-13

Philippians 1:12–13 ESV

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Now this is pretty cool. Remember, Paul is on house arrest, and at anytime there was at least one Roman soldier who was there on guard. So looking at it negatively, Paul was a captive. But Paul put a positive spin on it and realized that he had a captive audience. These soldiers were on duty. They could not go anywhere. They couldn’t just put their airpods in and try to tune Paul out. Paul took the opportunities to tell them about the gospel while they were. And the result was amazing. Paul said that the entire imperial guard heard the gospel.

Now the imperial guard was the group of soldiers that were specifically chosen to watch over Caesar’s palace. It’s estimated that there were about 9,000 soldiers in this imperial guard, and the gospel had spread to them all. Now Paul probably didn’t personally preach to all 9,000 soldiers, but he proclaimed Christ to the ones that he had contact with, and they in turn told the others. We don’t know how many of them decided to follow Christ, but we know some of them did. In the second to last verse in the book, Paul writes Phil 4:22

Philippians 4:22 ESV

All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

The gospel was spreading even in the house of the house of the most powerful ruler in the world at that time because Paul seized the opportunity and proclaimed Christ.

Church we need to follow Paul’s example and seek to proclaim Christ no matter the circumstance. Some of you might feel like you are in prison at your job, but don’t let that keep you from proclaiming Christ right there where you are. Some of you may be looking to upgrade to a better neighborhood. Nothing wrong with that. But don’t miss out on the opportunity to build relationships and proclaim Christ right where you are. God places us in certain places, and puts us in certain situations because there are people who need to hear the good news about Jesus Christ, and He wants you to proclaim His name!

There are people in this world who are hurting, who are addicted, who are lonely, who are hopeless. And what they need is to know the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They need to know that Jesus’s, life death and resurrection purchased our salvation and has freed us from the guilt of our past sins and secured a place for us in heaven when our life is over. They need to that the love of Jesus can heal the scars abuse and abandonment. They need to know that a relationship with God can fill the void in their life that they are trying to fill through relationships, sex, drugs, alcohol, success, and money. They need to know when they are going through a tough time that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called to His purpose.

Especially down here in the South, many people know about God. They know that Jesus died on the Christ to pay for their sins. But they have no idea how a true relationship with God can impact their lives, and set them on a new course. And they can’t know if we don’t tell them. We believe that Jesus saves, but He can only save those that listen and respond to the gospel. Like Paul we must take advantage of our circumstances, and proclaim Christ.

Transition: But not only was Christ proclaimed, Christians were empowered.

The Advancement of the Gospel Christ Was Proclaimed Christians Were Empowered

Philippians 1:14

Philippians 1:14 ESV

And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Now you would think that seeing Paul in prison would kind of silence the witness of the other Christians. After all, they didn’t want to end up in prison like Paul. But it Paul says that his imprisonment had the opposite affect. Instead of making them fearful of the persecution that they could face. It made them more bold. It mad them more courageous. His testimony empowered them to speak the gospel for themselves.

Now my first thought was, how could this empower the believers to speak the gospel without fear? I believe this was the line of thought. The worst thing that could happen for them was that they were killed for their faith. We’ll see this in our message clearly next week, but Paul’s testimony illustrated that the gospel was worth being imprisoned for. The gospel was worth being beaten for. The gospel was worth dying for. The gospel was worth all the risk. I think this mindset started to spread around the believers there in Rome, and they could now spread the gospel freely and without fear.

Let me ask you this question. What is worth the risk to you?

I came across the story. There was a pastor who was driving, and the car in front of him accidently hit a guy on a bike. The cyclist was not hurt, he just got knocked over. But when the cyclist got up, he started banging on the hood of the drivers car. In his rage, he opened up the driver’s door and started kicking and punching the driver who happened to be a 75-year old man. So now this pastor was faced with a decision as he was sitting directly behind this scene? Should he get out and help? To complicate the decision, his baby was also in the back seat. Nevertheless, he decided he need to do something. So he hopped out of his car and pulled this cyclist off of the old man. Well, the cyclist was still in a complete rage. Now he was getting physical with the pastor who just trying to deescalate the situation. He even ripped off the pastor’s shirt trying to get back to pummeling the old man. So now this pastor had a no choice. He was just going to punch this guy. So he gave him one swift upper-cut and knocked the cyclist out cold. All the other cars who witnessed the event honked and clapped for his heroics. And when the police came, everyone verified that he was not the aggressor, but was just trying to save this old man from the raged cyclist.

Now how many of us would have got out of the car and tried to help this older gentleman who couldn’t fight for himself? Most of us probably would have hopped out and tried to do something. It would have definitely taken some courage, but this man was in desperate need of help. But how many of us would have the courage to proclaim the gospel to a 75 year old man sitting alone drinking coffee in Mcdonald’s if you knew that he was not saved? How many of us would have the courage to even engage in a conversation at all?

Why is that we can muster of the courage for to protect the man from an angry cyclist, but not tell him about Jesus. Why is it that we feel that we need to take action when someone is in physical danger, but when their soul is in danger there is no sense of urgency. I know there may be awkwardness. We could be rejected. It could take up our precious time. But is the gospel worth the risk?

I think we often lack the courage because there is a deep battle going on. We are fighting that fear and anxiety inside of us. We have to realize the proclaiming the gospel is really spiritual warfare. And in any type of war, you need courage and boldness to fight. So we need to pray and ask God for that courage that we need to proclaim the gospel without fear.

Transition: So Paul proclaimed Christ and his fellow Christian were empowered to speak the gospel as well. And while the gospel advanced, there was a problem that arose. But Christ was still Preeminent .

The Advancement of the Gospel Christ Was Proclaimed Christians Were Empowered Christ Was Preeminent

Look down at verses Philippians 1:15-18

Philippians 1:15–18 ESV

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

So there was two factions of people that were preaching the gospel. Some with a pure motive and others with impure motives. Paul says that one group preached Christ out of good will. They proclaimed Christ because of their love for God and love for people, and the supported Paul knowing that God had placed him in this difficult circumstance for the sake of the gospel. But then there is another group. Paul says the preached out of envy and rivalry. It seems that some people were using Paul’s imprisonment as platform to tear down Paul and boost their own ministry. It’s important to note that these were not false preachers. These people were proclaiming the truth of the gospel, but they were doing it to boost their own popularity and to slander Paul.

Now the natural reaction would be for Paul to defend himself and call out these people who were just preaching the gospel for personal gain. But Paul didn’t do that. He didn’t care what people said or thought about him and his ministry. It didn’t even matter what their motivation was as long as they were teaching the truth. His only concern was that the gospel was still advancing. He wanted Christ to be preeminent. As long as His name was being proclaimed, and God was being glorified Paul was going to rejoice.

Sadly, I know what it’s like to proclaim Christ with improper motives. While in Bible college me and my roommate kept a board on the back of our door where we would tally up the people that we had the opportunity to tell about Christ. Sometimes we did it just to put another tally on the board. Our motives were impure, and looking back I wish that was not the case. But I am still glad that even though it was for the wrong reason we were still proclaiming Christ to others.

This is hard, but we have to avoid any pride or selfish-ambition in our personal ministry and in our church. I want our church to grow more than anyone, but let us never try to grow our church at the expense of tearing down another gospel preaching church. I would love for everyone to come here, but here may not be for everyone. The most important thing is that the gospel is going forward and disciples are being made. There are many different churches in the area. With many different types of leadership. Some of them are genuine. Others may not be. The important thing is that if they are teaching and preaching the truth of the gospel in our city, we must rejoice. Again, this is referring to those that are preaching the truth. More often then not, bad doctrine accompanies impure motives. But if people are proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, we have to let Christ be preeminent and let him deal with any impure motives. When Christ is preeminent, the messenger doesn’t matter.

So this is what it looked like for the gospel to advance. Christ was being proclaimed. Christians were being empowered. And Christ was preeminent. Paul was a prisoner. He had been through a lot. But he leveraged all of his hardships into opportunities to proclaim Christ.What situation, good, bad, or neutral has God placed you in to proclaim the gospel? If Paul could turn all of these hardships he endured into an opportunity to proclaim Christ, why do we have trouble proclaiming Jesus to the people at our job that we get paid to be around? Why is it difficult for us to proclaim Christ to our neighbors when we can just walk back across the street to our comfy houses? Here is the main thought that I want you to think on this week.

Turn your situation into a gospel presentation.

Here are two thoughts that can help us to do this on a more regular basis.

1. Keep a gospel focus

Paul could have made this update all about himself. It could have been about his misery. His frustration. We are told in the book of Acts that he was on house arrest at his own expense. So he could have been asking for financial support. Paul could have focused on his anger towards those that were trying to ruin negate his apostleship and ruin his reputation. But Paul chose not to focus on himself. He wanted to keep Christ preeminent. And this shows us what it looks like to have a gospel focus.

We really have to switch our thinking. I really like what it says in verse Phil 1:13 That everyone knew that Paul’s imprisonment was for Christ. That tells me that Paul was so intent on sharing the gospel that everyone knew that was God’s purpose for him being in prison. Do people know you are where you are for the sake of the gospel? Yes, you are are that job to make a living, but that’s not the only reason that God has you there. God didn’t allow you to fall in love with that house just because of the open floor plan. You guys get what I’m saying here? We really need to shift our focus from why am I here to why does God have me here? In what way am I to advance the gospel through the situation that God has placed me in. Whether it is good or bad.

Philippians 1:13 ESV

so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Something I’ve started doing recently at my job is that I have a text message group with those that I have had a conversation with and have heard a clear testimony of salvation. Maybe like once a week or so I’m texting these guys Scripture and just reminding them that our job is a mission field, and we need to be careful with what we say and how we act, because our lives our to be a reflection of Christ to our lost co-workers.

No matter the circumstances going on around us, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus and our thoughts on how we can advance the gospel through this situation.

Transition: Now the second thing is very closely related, but maybe takes it another step.

II. Seek Opportunities

We need to seek out opportunities to make the gospel known. Not everyone is going to walk up to us and ask, “What must I do to be saved?” A key word to remember is intentional. Several studies have been done that show that people are more likely to come to Christ through a relationship with a believer. That’s not to say that people can’t be saved through a spontaneous encounter like a conversation in a waiting room or knocking on a random door, but even then, there’s often someone in their life who has already been praying for them and sharing Christ. Relationships give us credibility. They allow us to speak more freely. People are more likely to respond when they see that you live the things your preach. This means that we need to be intentional about building relationships and giving ourselves opportunities to speak the gospel.

For example, I hit the gym and workout quite often. I know you can tell. But I try to go to the gym around the same time everyday. Why? Because if you ever have been consistent at a gym, you know that the same people come into the gym, at the same time, nearly everyday. So naturally, as you see the same people on a regular basis, you start building a relationship. It might start with just saying hi everyday, then progress to small talk, and again, thinking intentionally, I can start steering those conversations toward the gospel. One way that I’ve seen very effective in starting a gospel conversation is by asking, “ Is there anything I can pray for you about?” Most people won’t reject someone praying for them, and it can give you a peek into the things that are important in their lives which can give you insight on how to engage them with a presentation of the gospel. But you have to practice turning your everyday conversations into gospel conversations.

Sometimes, going to the gym at that time can be inconvenient, but if you want to go fishing, you got to go to the pond at the right time.

So where are you fishing? Most of us have jobs that we have to be at and we see the same faces on a daily basis. Learn to be intentional about those relationships. Request the same waitress at the restaurant that you like to go to. Most of the time we just don’t have that gospel focus. We are just preoccupied with our agenda, or our schedule, or our phones that we don’t take the time to see the people around us. So keep a gospel focus and be intentional about seeking opportunities to share Christ.

It’s interesting. We talked this morning about advancing the gospel through obstacles. Paul endured these crazy hardships and intense persecution. But here in 21st century America, the battle is not not normally us battling persecution and rough circumstance. The Battle is taking place within. We battle against comfort, business, entertainment, individualism, fear of awkwardness. While it’s not the same type of opposition that Paul faced, we are still called to advance the gospel in the circumstances that God has placed us in.

I think the action for us this morning is pretty clear. We need to proclaim Christ and share testimonies that encourage others to do the same. Yo, you don’t have to depend on the church to do this. There’s nothing wrong with church-wide outreach events. I hope to do more things like that as a church in the near future. But even more effective than a special event is if the people of the church are proclaiming Christ on a daily basis.

I was so excited when John messaged us this week and said Tiffany had come to Christ. Maybe there is someone like that where you work, live, or frequent. I know that there are many hard-hearted people in world. Our culture is continually shifting towards hostility towards Christianity. And we’re going through a pandemic. But the gospel can still advance. In good situations or bad. In persecution or in comfort. Christ can be proclaimed. Christians can be Empowered, and Christ remains preeminent.

Maybe you are here this morning and you have never committed your life to Christ. I want to invite you this morning to begin your relationship with him. There’re no better example of turning a situation that supposed to be negative into a positive like Jesus. When Jesus was crucified, Satan thought he had won a victory. But Jesus’s death was necessary for the forgiveness of our sins, and his Resurrection is what brings to us salvation. If you want to know more about what the gospel means or how you can become a Christian, I encourage you to reach out to me and I can show you how you can start a true relationship with Him.